In ongoing attempts to provide more efficient and convenient service to customers, many retailers have begun to use "point of sale check printers" to reduce the time required for a customer to manually fill out and sign a check. Most people have encountered delays at checkout lines when another customer waits until all of his or her items are checked or scanned to begin to fill out a check for the total purchase. Faster service is provided if the retailer uses a point of sale check printer. A point of sale check printer automatically enters the date, amount of purchase and the name of the retail establishment in the proper spaces on a check, leaving only the signature line blank for the customer to sign. The process of paying by check is therefore made similar to a purchase by credit card, in which all information regarding the date, the amount of the sale and the name of the retail establishment is provided for the customer, who then needs only to sign a receipt to complete the transaction.
A major difference between a credit card purchase and a check purchase, however, is the need for the back of a check to be endorsed, or "franked" by the retail establishment. This step is not required at the point of sale, but, for security reasons, many retail establishments which use a point of sale check printer have a practice of franking each check (with "for deposit only" or other similar notation) as it is received. This lessens the possibility of unrecoverable losses from stolen checks which are later stamped or printed with forged endorsements.
Because the standard location for endorsing or franking a check is on the back, and the standard location for providing all other information is on the front, any check processed by a point of sale check printer must be printed on both sides before such a check may be accepted as payment. Thus, the check must be removed and reinserted to the point of sale printer for information to be printed on both sides.
It is known in the art to encode data on a check with Magnetic Ink Character Recognition ("MICR") technology. In MICR technology, magnetic ink is used to print the customer's account number, a number identifying the bank, and the actual check number on each check. MICR reading machines read this information during the check clearing process to insure the proper account is charged with the amount for which the check is drawn.
Current point of sale check printers are able to read MICR encoding on the check and transmit the encoded data to credit verification agencies. After the information regarding the customer's bank and account number is transmitted to the credit verification agency, a decision may then be made by the retailer whether to accept the presented check. The verification step is not necessary, as some point of sale check printers merely read and record the MICR-encoded data. To use a current point of sale check printer, a cashier inserts the check for reading and verification. After the MICR is read and any verification or approval completed, the back of the check is endorsed or franked.
As previously referred to, all point of sale check printers require that the check be manually removed from the printer and then re-inserted to print the date, the name of the retail establishment and the amount in numeral and word form on the face of the check. This step requires the attention of the cashier, who is thereby temporarily prevented from accomplishing another task such as "bagging" the purchased items. The check must be correctly oriented during the re-insertion, or the information printed on the face will be printed in the wrong places, rendering the check unusable. If the check is rendered unusable, the customer would be asked for a replacement check, which would lessen the customer's confidence in the retail establishment and the check printing process. Also, the interval in which a check is endorsed but not filled out on the face presents a security risk to the customer, who may not want a "blank" check to be out of his or her control. If the check is held in the point of sale printer for a length of time for verification, the cashier may become distracted or may get involved with other tasks. The cashier's attention would have to be regained when the franking step is completed and the check is ready for reinsertion. Until the cashier's attention is redirected to the point of sale printer, the check could be removed by an unauthorized party.
What is needed is a point of sale check printer that completes the steps of MICR-reading, verification (if any), franking, and printing more efficiently. Such a printer would ideally ensure the endorsement and all data on the front are correctly printed, minimize the risk associated with having an incomplete check in the control of store personnel instead of the customer, and would not need constant attention by the cashier during the payment process.